2018 Verizon IndyCar Series Final Points Standings and Awards

The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season came to a close Sunday with Scott Dixon hoisting the championship title. Dixon earned his fifth title, putting him in elite company alongside A.J. Foyt. The championship race came down to the season finale.

The four drivers who entered Sonoma Raceway with a chance to win the championship were the ones who stayed within reach from St. Petersburg. Josef Newgarden showed that he was going to be a threat to go back-to-back early in the season before experiencing a slump after his victory at Barber.

The slump that Will Power was facing during the first four races of the season ended in Indianapolis. Power went on to sweep both races in the month of May to put him in the conversation of winning the championship.

The Championship runner-up kicked off his season with three straight podium finishes. During the entire season, Alexander Rossi finished outside the top 10 only three times ,which ultimately gave him the best chance of defeating Dixon.

Ryan Hunter-Reay snapped a 42-race winless streak in Detroit and was able to tally another victory in the season finale at Sonoma. After missing the Indianapolis 500, James Hinchcliffe took the twin-checkers at Iowa Speedway for the second time of his career, his sixth career victory. Takuma Sato returned to victory lane at Portland, his first victory since his Indianapolis 500 triumph in 2017.

Final 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series Standings

Scott Dixon -678 points

Alexander Rossi – 621 points

Will Power – 582 points

Ryan Hunter-Reay – 566 points

Josef Newgarden – 560 points

Simon Pagenaud – 492 points

Sébastien Bourdais – 425 points

Graham Rahal – 392 points

Marco Andretti – 392 points

James Hinchcliffe – 391 points

Robert Wickens – 391 points

Takuma Sato – 351 points

Ed Jones – 343 points

Spencer Pigot -325 points

Zach Veach – 313 points

Tony Kanaan – 312 points

Charlie Kimball – 287 points

Matheus Leist – 253 points

Max Chilton – 223 points

Gabby Chaves – 187 points

Ed Carpenter – 187 points

Jordan King – 175 points

Zachary Claman De Melo – 122 points

Jack Harvey – 103 points

Carlos Munoz – 95 points

Pietro Fittipaldi – 91 points

Santino Ferrucci – 66 points

Rene Binder – 61 points

Conor Daly – 58 points

Kyle Kaiser – 45 points

Patricio O’Ward – 44 points

Helio Castroneves – 40 points

JR Hildebrand – 38 points

Stefan Wilson – 31 points

Oriol Servia – 27 points

Alfonso Celis Jr. – 23 points

Colton Herta – 20 points

Danica Patrick – 13 points

Jay Howard – 12 points

Sage Karam – 10 points

James Davison – 10 points

Verizon P1 Championship Award

Josef Newgarden and Will Power tied for the number of poles this season at four, but Newgarden made the most of his pole victories by tallying 151 points. Power was chasing his second straight and fourth Championship Award since 2013. It is the fifth time a Team Penske driver has taken the award.

Josef Newgarden – 4 poles – 151 points

Will Power – 4 poles – 137 points

Alexander Rossi – 3 poles – 130 points

Ryan Hunter-Reay – 1 pole – 104 points

Ed Carpenter – 1 pole – 92 points

Marco Andretti – 1 pole – 34 points

Sébastien Bourdais – 1 pole – 19 points

Robert Wickens – 1 pole – 16 points

Tag Heuer “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” Award

Graham Rahal advanced the most positions from his starting spot in 2018, netting him the Tag Heuer “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” Award. It is the second time Rahal has earned the award and first time since 2015. 2018 IndyCar Champion Scott Dixon finished third in the standings.

Graham Rahal – 91 points

Charlie Kimball – 89 points

Scott Dixon – 72 points

Tony Kanaan – 60 points

Spencer Pigot – 60 points

Takuma Sato – 54 points

Zach Veach – 54 points

Marco Andretti – 52 points

Sébastien Bourdais – 49 points

Ed Jones – 49 points

Alexander Rossi – 49 points

Matheus Leist – 46 points

Max Chilton – 42 points

Simon Pagenaud – 39 points

James Hinchcliffe – 37 points

Ryan Hunter-Reay – 36 points

Gabby Chaves – 36 points

Robert Wickens – 31 points

Zachary Claman De Melo – 27 points

Jordan King – 26 points

Josef Newgarden – 21 points

Jack Harvey – 20 points

Carlos Munoz – 20 points

Conor Daly – 19 points

Pietro Fittipaldi – 17 points

Ed Carpenter – 16 points

JR Hildebrand – 16 points

Rene Binder – 14 points

Kyle Kaiser – 13 points

Will Power – 10 points

Santino Ferrucci – 9 points

Oriol Servia – 9 points

Stefan Wilson – 8 points

Alfonso Celis Jr. – 7 points

Jay Howard – 4 points

Helio Castroneves – 4 points

Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award

Robert Wickens put on an impressive performance before his season-ending accident at Pocono Raceway. Wickens’ performance put him in position to clinch Rookie of the Year before the season came to an end. Zach Veach made a run for it late in the season but came up short finishing second.

About Christian Koelle

Christian Koelle returns to Fronstretch in 2018 after joining the organization in late 2017. He is looking to write full-time this season with Frontstretch. Along with Motorsports Christian also covers Minor League Baseball, with a focus on the Southern League. His second passion is baseball. He and his family reside in Ooltewah, TN, a town just outside of Chattanooga.